approval backlog = TED Translation tRAP
you are volunteering for an elite ngo TED.com and ... TO GET YOUR translation PUBLISHED, you have to indulge in bargaining
no one will review your job for free, so you barter for reviews [one can review only after 5 published translations]
After this you both will have to beg local Language Coordinators for approval
Albeit the solution should be based on a trial error and a research of TED users and translators behaviour, we have example in Wikipedia.
Fight the backlog with A)a force of incentives and/or with B) altering of TED translations' funnel design. So what can be done? TRY EM OUT!
A] incentives for reviewing
1]Info: there can be a better know-how explanation to lower the entry learning curve so that maze of Amara is better understood and feels easier. There can/should be multiple user paths or skins [not just different editors]
2]Prize: there can be a reward for regular backlog sweeping- a small budget can be given to either a sweeping process sctors [to share among the reviewers] or a in a better way, to auction it[budget] off in a Dutch aution manner to find out the monetary elasticity in the field.
B] TED translations funnel design change possibilities
1] Cancel the LCs authority over others! People who can hamper should be paid not to. LCs are not paid to publish others' works. They are prone to politics and withering. They answer to noone. Try none or 1 step control for good translators [Who are the good ones? - not the ones who write letters to join the elite LC corps but the ones who serve the audience! -There should be a cookie that requires srt users [viewers] to rate the translations; dozens of users cannot lie]
2] Let ANYBODY improve a srt translation in a wikipedia way [no final approval]
3] Automate translations/approvals with the option of the users improvements using an advanced translating AI [anything better than 2018 googletranslate is worth trying]
Fight the backlog with A)a force of incentives and/or with B) altering of TED translations' funnel design. So what can be done? TRY EM OUT!
A] incentives for reviewing
1]Info: there can be a better know-how explanation to lower the entry learning curve so that maze of Amara is better understood and feels easier. There can/should be multiple user paths or skins [not just different editors]
2]Prize: there can be a reward for regular backlog sweeping- a small budget can be given to either a sweeping process sctors [to share among the reviewers] or a in a better way, to auction it[budget] off in a Dutch aution manner to find out the monetary elasticity in the field.
B] TED translations funnel design change possibilities
1] Cancel the LCs authority over others! People who can hamper should be paid not to. LCs are not paid to publish others' works. They are prone to politics and withering. They answer to noone. Try none or 1 step control for good translators [Who are the good ones? - not the ones who write letters to join the elite LC corps but the ones who serve the audience! -There should be a cookie that requires srt users [viewers] to rate the translations; dozens of users cannot lie]
2] Let ANYBODY improve a srt translation in a wikipedia way [no final approval]
3] Automate translations/approvals with the option of the users improvements using an advanced translating AI [anything better than 2018 googletranslate is worth trying]
Research to find out how the subtitles are used and why.
Do non-English/US IPs users use subtitles? Do they pause? Why Spanish has no backlog but Russian does? Why we volunteers joined and stayed/did not stay active? Say if I want to show off as an intermediate translator asap or if I like particular messages and want to help spread them - this incentives mean I am fairly disgruntled since the videos translated a long ago are not published. On the other hand if I wanted to practice English or just got a badge of a helper or joined at a whim I would not mind the backlog that much.
Trial and Error
Do non-English/US IPs users use subtitles? Do they pause? Why Spanish has no backlog but Russian does? Why we volunteers joined and stayed/did not stay active? Say if I want to show off as an intermediate translator asap or if I like particular messages and want to help spread them - this incentives mean I am fairly disgruntled since the videos translated a long ago are not published. On the other hand if I wanted to practice English or just got a badge of a helper or joined at a whim I would not mind the backlog that much.
Trial and Error